CA Final Exam Tips for November 2026: A Paper-wise Plan for Exam Week

The CA Final November 2026 exams run from Monday 2 November to Friday 13 November, and the best exam tips for this stretch are about the gap days. Each group has three papers on alternate days, so after the first paper you always get at least one clear day before the next. Papers 1 to 5 run from 2 pm to 5 pm with 30 marks of MCQs and 70 marks of descriptive questions. Paper 6, IBS, runs from 2 pm to 6 pm.

A gap day is for sharpening what you already know and timing one MCQ block. It is too late to open a chapter you have never revised.

TL;DR

• Group I: 2, 4 and 6 November. Group II: 9, 11 and 13 November 2026.
• Papers 1 to 5: 2 pm to 5 pm, 30 marks of MCQs plus 70 marks descriptive, no negative marking.
• IBS on 13 November: 2 pm to 6 pm, open book, attempt any four of five case studies.
• Direct Tax for November 2026 is still set on the Income-tax Act, 1961. The 2025 Act comes in from May 2027.
• A phone in the hall, even switched off, is treated as unfair means.

When are the CA Final November 2026 papers?

These are the dates in ICAI's guidance note for this attempt, and the note says they stay the same even if a date becomes a public holiday:

• Monday 2 November: Paper 1, Financial Reporting.
• Wednesday 4 November: Paper 2, Advanced Financial Management.
• Friday 6 November: Paper 3, Advanced Auditing, Assurance and Professional Ethics.
• Monday 9 November: Paper 4, Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation.
• Wednesday 11 November: Paper 5, Indirect Tax Laws.
• Friday 13 November: Paper 6, Integrated Business Solutions, 2 pm to 6 pm.

If you are writing both groups, the weekend of 7 and 8 November is the longest break you get: two days before Direct Tax. Use it for DT and International Taxation, because Indirect Tax and IBS follow with one day each.

Six papers in twelve days, one day off before each paper, and two days off before Direct Tax.

How should you split three hours in papers 1 to 5?

ICAI's rules for papers 1 to 5 are clear. The MCQs carry 30 of the 100 marks, each worth 1 or 2 marks with four options. They are compulsory, there is no choice among them, no reasoning is needed, and there is no negative marking.

Three hours for 100 marks works out to 1.8 minutes a mark. At that rate the MCQ block would get 54 minutes, but MCQs are faster to answer than a 14-mark computation. My split is this:

• About 40 to 45 minutes for the 30 marks of MCQs.
• About 125 minutes for the 70 descriptive marks.
• The last 10 minutes to fill any MCQ you skipped and check totals.

Never leave an MCQ blank. With no negative marking, a guess between two options you have narrowed down costs nothing.

Cap the MCQs at about 45 minutes, give the descriptive part about two hours, and answer every MCQ.

What should you revise on each gap day?

The gap day is for your own short notes, the corrections from papers you have had checked, and one timed MCQ set from ICAI's RTP or MTP. Here is what I would look at for each paper.

Before Financial Reporting (1 November)

Go over the Ind AS where the numbers decide the answer: Ind AS 115 on revenue, Ind AS 116 on leases, Ind AS 109 on financial instruments and the consolidation standards.

Before AFM (3 November)

Write your formula sheet from memory once: forex, derivatives, portfolio and valuation. In the paper, write the formula before you put figures in it.

Before Audit (5 November)

Revise Standards on Auditing by number and name together, for example SA 240 on the auditor's responsibilities relating to fraud. A case answer needs the relevant provision, the facts applied to it and a conclusion. Students who skip the conclusion leave marks on the table.

Before Direct Tax (7 and 8 November)

For November 2026 the paper is on the Income-tax Act, 1961. ICAI's Board of Studies has said the Income-tax Act, 2025 applies from the May 2027 exams. Do not mix the two. Use the two days for computation questions and International Taxation, which many students leave to the end.

Before Indirect Tax (10 November)

GST valuation, input tax credit and place of supply first, then Customs and Foreign Trade Policy. Write each answer with the section reference and then the working.

Short notes, checked-paper corrections and one timed MCQ set: that is the whole of a good gap day.

How should you handle the IBS paper on 13 November?

IBS has its own pattern. The paper has five case studies of 25 marks each, and you attempt any four. In each case study, 10 marks are MCQs and 15 marks are descriptive questions on computation, analysis or interpretation. You mark the MCQ answers in the OMR portion on the cover page of the answer book, and a machine checks them.

Four hours for four case studies gives you 60 minutes a case. Read all five openings first and drop your weakest. You may bring printed study material, practice manuals, ICAI's RTPs, bare Acts and your own notes, but you cannot paste anything into the answer book or swap material with another candidate. Our IBS paper guide covers case selection in more detail.

Pick four of the five cases quickly, give each about an hour, and fill the OMR as you finish each case.

Which mistakes cost marks in the exam hall?

These are the ones I see most often in checked CA Final answer sheets:

• Working notes with no number and no link to the main answer, so the checker cannot find the step.
• An assumption used in the answer but never written down.
• The last descriptive question started with eight minutes left and half finished.
• An Audit or Law answer that quotes the provision and stops before applying it to the facts.

Two more can cost you the whole attempt. ICAI treats having a mobile phone with you in the hall, even switched off, as unfair means. Writing your roll number anywhere except the space given for it, or any symbol in the answer book, is also unfair means. Our post on the CA Final admit card lists the rest of the exam-day rules.

Label every working note, write every assumption, keep time for the last question, and carry nothing but the permitted calculator.

What should the evening before each paper look like?

Pack the bag first: admit card, photo ID, pens and a calculator of the kind ICAI allows, which is battery operated with up to 6 functions, 12 digits and two memories. Scientific calculators are not allowed. Then read your own notes for two or three hours and sleep at your normal time.

If you still have time for one full paper before 2 November, Gradehunt's CA Final test series returns it within 48 hours, checked by an ex-examiner with step-wise marks and comments, so the gaps it shows can go straight into your gap-day notes.